How do YOU "Set-up" YOUR New Machine?

I think I may have posed this question incorrectly, in the past (in my two or three previous instances with new machines).

I have slowed-down (considerably) this time..in large part, perhaps, due to this WIN8 OS being on this new Samsung Laptop ("Notebook"?) of mine, but simply because I have made so, so, soooo mistakes in the past.

Here's what I've done (basically) to this machine, in about two weeks time:

1. Downloaded/Installed SpywareBlaster http://www.majorgeeks.com/SpywareBlaster_d2859.html

2. "Removed" (?) the (Symantec/Norton) Security "Suite" that came installed and replaced it with Microsoft security program (known in "8" as Windows "Defender" - formerly known as MSSE/"Security Essentials").

3. Downloaded/Installed Comodo Firewall (x64, I think/hope??) turned-off MS/Windows FW http://www.majorgeeks.com/Comodo_Personal_Firewall__d5033.html

4. Adjusted a FEW Services per "Black Viper Windows 8 Service Configurations" http://www.blackviper.com/service-configurations/black-vipers-windows-8-service-configurations/

That is about it..for me.."so far". So I'm very curious: What do you/would you, do?

Thanks in advance,
g...
PS ~ I have also installed a few other of my favorite regulars such as CCLEANER, etc....

 

*Correction*

ccleaner SLIM http://majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_d4191.html

...sorry, ran-out of edit time, and forgot I also wanted to mention that I have installed/utilize:

HOTSPOT SHIELD
BELARC ADVISOR
SPECCY
WHAT-IN-STARTUP
LIBRE-OFFICE

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Hotspot_Shield_d5220.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Belarc_Advisor_d1385.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/Speccy_d6358.html

http://www.majorgeeks.com/WhatInStartup_d6353.html

http://majorgeeks.com/LibreOffice_Productivity_Suite_d6644.html

 

No ma'am..thank you for your reply here, however, I'm still trying to figure-out exactly "how" to do that (how to go about it).

I have a small (160/140 GB), external Hard Drive, would that work? This may sound ridiculous, but I am not "budgeted" for the purchase of any blank DVD's (and I would think I'd want to buy the netter quality [more expensive type] if I'm going to do it at all).

I'm not looking so much to "remove" anything, rather begin to get ideas on what to do, when the time comes to "streamline" the machine and its capabilities...(I don't know..am I making any sense here..?).

 

Well you have no clue how great that sounds to me (and I'm sure, how great it might sound to the likes of me)...however, it's basically just "theory", as to making anything "better" on any machine I've ever been able to afford.

I don't even KNOW what the heck PC-Decrapifier is presenting me with when I run it..I removed one, maybe two programs from there (Windows "Office", which I knew was only a trial, and "maybe" one other program which I don't recall by name at the moment, but that I recognized as Trial-ware).

To quote you; "That is it". I took four (or five?) screenshots of all the things PC-Decrapifier dredged-up, but I have no clue which to keep and which I may purge...(??).

I viewed 'Your Machines'...

Core i7-3720QM
16gb DDR3-1600

Intel i7-2670QM
8gb DDR3-1600

I don't have any sort of Powerful CPU, nor the amount of RAM which you do...I "thought" I was doing well (better than ever before) with an "i3" machine...hah...laughable. I am up to 6 GB of RAM now (most I've ever had on any machine), but it's barely noticeable.

I don't know what to do here...I am *not* in the "tech" industry...I don't go to work with techie-type people, or have the luxury of visiting coffee shops or schools or wherever folks go to learn about all these things...I live/work on a small family farm, in an incredibly small, rural town (135 people - mostly in their 60's and up..in the least populated county, in the Commonwealth of Virginia).

I am lost, to say the least.

 

I suppose the answer then is for me to start a new post to see if anyone thinks I have a use for all these items Decrapifier "identifies"...?

I get EXTREMELY nervous with things that contain the words "Samsung" (brand of my machine), "intel", and of course with anything labeled "Microsoft".

Thanks just the same..

OH...after, that is, I determine if I "can" back-up everything on my machine on an external hard drive, or if it has to be on disk...

 

Well for goodness sake..your own '8 Survival guide' http://adrynalyne.blogspot.com/2012/09/windows-8-survival-guide-v-10.html contains more info than you let-on in your reply here. Though it's something I'll likely have to study for weeks (if not months), there appear to be some good "tweaks" (adjustments) to be made in there....thanks.

 

I don't buy new machines. I get "old" one off friends and just load from an image basically.

 

I don't know. I buy like Spock96 and go by the same theory to set up the system.

However, the last time I bought a new PC I don't recall getting tense over what to remove. Actually, I have found the factory software useful for the most part (on HPs). I guess I would say I would leave the factory software until I was certain I knew what I was removing and that I wouldn't be needing or using the features.

First thing I would do for a new PC would be to add the following:
1. Process Lasso
2. Comodo Programs Manager
3. Anti-Virus
4. Backup program
5. Cleaner Program
6. Defragmenter

Then I would set up schedules for back up and defragmentation.

Comodo Programs Manager is something I think you would pat yourself on the back for installing down the road a few months when you start to realize how effective it is. If it weren't such a chore, I would re-install my OS and put CPM on first, so I could have it managing all my system installations, but I'm on a 3 year installation of XP, including a large number of programs. And each one has its own settings...

 

I appreciate your post here...seems like a lot of info which I can sink my teeth into (s-l-o-w-l-y, over time).

But here's the thing: If I indicated I was mostly looking to "remove" things, I have erred. It was really supposed to be what the subject indicates: "Setup/New Machine".

I am trying (perhaps somewhat desperately now..?) to learn. I would like to move from "Major Moron" here, to at least "Private-Geek, 1st-Class".

Thanks to all..I am trying to learn at least a LITTLE something from everyone...even if it is only that REAL Major Geeks can't waste much time with the likes of me (that IS a lesson in-and-of-itself, more than ya might think!)....

 

Here's my two pennyworth then.

- Learn how to backup and restore your system using an imaging program. This is your safety net when things go wrong.

- Read all you can, both here and in other similar forums

- Spend most of your time exploring your system and experimenting/testing your ideas. When things backfire, which they will, revert your system to an earlier backup and start again.

For those with an enquiring mind a computer is Heaven sent. There are almost limitless possibilities but there isn't any substitute for experience Glen and you only get that, as one wit here says in his sig, 'right after you need it'.

 

Your two-penny-worth is worth more (considerably more) than two-penny ~ thank you~!~

:major

 

...though I must ask, when you say "imaging program", is that the same as backing-up to my external HD?

 

See entry #2 in this post.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=274120

 

Could be, depends on what type of backup you perform. There are two basic types, file backups and system backups. There are dozens of file backup solutions around and they are a must for protecting your personal files, especially photos as they are irreplaceable if lost. System backups (images) capture your entire disk or partition in every respect, so when you restore an image your computer is reverted to exactly how it was when the backup was created, and in the process it will overwite any personal files kept on the same drive/partition, so it's a good idea not to keep them on the system drive/partition.

Backup is a very big and critical subject and I would advocate that as a priority you should aim to get proficient with it.

 

This (to me/for me) is a deep, vital, and greatly appreciated post...there is much to be said for the subject, and about it, in my opinion.

That said, it just all seems so "mysterious", to me . . and I believe to many (many!) others, as well.

Did the back-up "take" to the external HD? Is there "REALLY" anything on it (the external HD) that I just backed-up to?? Did I place it/leave it (external HD, OR disk for that matter) TOO-NEAR to any of the various MAGNETS (which apparently would destroy it all), that I have around and about in my life/daily routine???

Perhaps not so much in the "geek world", but to regular folks such as myself, well...I have "known" I should "back-up" my, "stuff", for about a decade, and yet I am quite sure I could count on my fingers (granted both hands) the number of times I have ACTUALLY performed the operation on any of my machines (on my 4th machine in that time - going from XP Home/Basic, to Vista Basic, to 7 Home-Premium, and now 8 - "whatever"..Basic?).

And I am here to tell you all, as a perfectly "vanilla" end-user, that "back-up", per se, REMAINS a rather HUGE mystery, to me, to this day.

I was fortunate (I suppose) in the sense that I just happened to "back-up" ("files"??) from my year-and-a-half old ASUS machine, running 7, just a few days before it "died". So now I "have" 33 "folders" (?) of "compressed/zipped" files (??), which are unnamed, on my small external HD, and which I have NO clue what to do with. I will post a screenshot (for whatever good THAT might do...?).

And then the kick in the teeth (from the "Geek Gods"), is in the very naming of these mystery programs by their "lofty", mystery (somewhat intimidating) names ..."Acronis" . . "Macrium Reflect" . . "Easeus Todo" . . is somebody friggin' KIDDIN' ME?!? All sounds to me like something out of a Lord of the Rings flick...or Harry Potter, or some such...

So for now, I think, I'm either on to something here, or there MUST BE a "conspiracy" (of sorts) going-on in Greater Geekdom, to keep tech-dummies like me - OUT of the loop.

The "tech-jihad" persists . . . .

 

Looks like one of those external drives that has a built-in file backup program that automatically performs regular backups of a default file set, and you only have to click on any of those folder icons to find out what it contains and when it was created. It's of no use to you though because it seems you wouldn't know how to recover the backed up files even if you really needed to.

TBH Glen, if this is where you are at after ten years of knowing you ought to get to grips with backup then how can you expect us to take what you say seriously?

 

grc123...

It's not as complicated or mysterious as it seems to be to you right now. If you don't back up your important files, eventually you will lose them.

I think what earthling is saying to you here

is that backup is very user specific and that it's smart to learn what to backup and how often. There is a best strategy for you for your purposes is what I am reading in that.

For me, keeping a copy of the Documents and Settings tree is basically enough. I don't need a full backup of Windows and the rest of my programs. I can just reinstall Windows and then my programs. That said, I do have a backup of the Program Files tree that I keep. I don't run the backup very often, but it would get me as close to a full backup as I care to be. For what I do, FBackup is enough, while for those who require a more aggressive backup technique, Acronis or Macrium Reflect are best...

 

Yep, that's the absolute minimum every user should do. But 'just reinstalling Windows' means two or three days downloading and installing hundreds of updates, configuring your software, etc etc when you can restore an image file in less than half an hour and be right back as if nothing ever happened. Apart from protecting you from hard disk failure it's most important and valuable feature is complete elimination of any virus or other stowaways that may come aboard.

I know you know all of that already AltBo but I like to take every opportunity to keep hammering that message home

 

Thanks to you all, as usual, and always.

It's just too much...certainly to take-in, in any one....day...month....year..........?

I think I would simply like to max my RAM, now...today...though of course I have questions about (and problems again with) that..so will start another post.

Thanks again,
glenn

 

Very well my friend...I would just as soon save (could very much other utilize) the $20 or $30+ it would cost me to add to (and "match" perfectly in terms of spec) the RAM I now already have!

Thank you...and I am availing (and will continue with) the thread you linked, to see where I might be able to "slim-down", rather than "bulk-up" !!

Thanks again, plodr!!!